The present invention relates generally to a disc cartridge housing a disc-shaped recording medium, and more particularly to a disc cartridge that permits a disc-shaped recording medium to be mounted therein and removed therefrom by a disc holder for holding the recording medium.
With widespread use of disc-shaped recording media (hereinafter, simply referred to as xe2x80x9cdiscsxe2x80x9d) for recording various types of information, disc cartridges for housing such discs therein are now under development. A disc cartridge houses a disc in a rotatable state, and such a disc-housing cartridge is mounted in a recording/reproducing apparatus for use. Such disc cartridges are classified into two types: a type that allows for mounting/removal of a disc (disc-removable type) and a type that does not allow for mounting/removal of a disc.
A disc-removable type disc cartridge is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-86487. This conventional disc cartridge includes a case that houses a disc rotatably and a lid for opening/closing a disc insertion opening of the case. The lid is provided with a disc support member that elastically deforms in the plane parallel with the disc surface for supporting the disc. Once the lid is mounted in the case, the disc support member elastically deforms to permit rotation of the disc. Insertion and removal of the disc into and out of the case are done by an operator who grasps the lid.
The above-described conventional disc cartridge has the following problems. When the operator grasps the lid to pull it out of the case, he or she is likely to touch the disc possibly leaving a fingerprint and the like on the disc. If the disc is contaminated, the reliability of recording/reproduction is reduced.
The disc support member is kept elastically deformed as long as the lid is mounted in the case. Therefore, if the lid is kept mounted in the case for a prolonged period of time, stress relaxation of the disc support member may occur, resulting in a reduction of the disc holding capability of the disc support member. With a reduced disc holding capability, the disc may slip off when the lid is pulled out of the case. In order to avoid this problem, the disc support member must be made of a material having a low stress relaxation such as phosphor bronze, for example. This results in failure of integral molding of the disc support member with the lid body using, for example, a polymeric material, and thus increases the cost of the disc support member.
The present invention provides a disc cartridge that exhibits good operability when a disc holder is pulled out of or pushed into a case and reduces the possibility of a finger touching the disc.
Briefly stated, the present invention comprises a disc cartridge. The disc cartridge comprises a disc holder for supporting a disc-shaped recording medium. The disc holder includes: a grip having an upper portion and a lower portion, and a disc receptacle portion, the grip being thicker than the disc receptacle portion; a case defining a housing portion for receiving the disc holder and the recording medium, the case including an upper portion, a lower portion, and side portions surrounding the housing portion, the case allowing the disc holder with the recording medium to be inserted into and removed from the housing portion via an opening formed through one of the side portions. The upper and lower portions of the case each include a cut for exposing the upper portion and the lower portion of the grip respectively when the disc holder is in the case. One of the grip and the cut of the case has a plurality of spaced apart lugs while the other of the grip and the cut of the case has a plurality of spaced apart recesses for receiving the lugs at positions corresponding to the lugs, to thereby engage the respective lugs. The disk holder also includes lock means for securing the disc holder to the case at a position where the disc holder blocks the opening of the case. Each of the upper portion and the lower portion of the grip has side portions tapering from a bottom end to a top end of the grip, the top end of the grip having a smaller width than the bottom end of the grip, the cut of the upper case and the cut of the lower case being shaped to correspond with the taper of the side portions of the grip thereby facilitating smooth engagement of the grip and the cuts.